1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method and a computer program product.
2. Description of Related Art
In a page printer like a laser printer, and more specifically, a printer designed to print a full-color image, RGB data is converted into YMCK data first, Y, M, C, and K color component images are then formed, and a full-color image is formed in four print processes.
In the above printer, however, since Y, M, C, and K color component images are serially formed by one color component image generating device in four processes, it takes much time to perform image processing for printing a one-page full-color image. This makes it impossible to increase the print speed. In addition, since conversion to YMCK data is performed before rendering, rendering logic cannot be faithfully implemented, resulting in poor color reproducibility.
If a printer uses a print process in which four color component images are formed in parallel, printing must be started after all color component images corresponding to at least one page are formed. It therefore takes much time before the printer can start the first print operation. In addition, a large-capacity memory such as a data buffer or disk unit is required.